Japanese company Mitsui & Co has been accused by Chinese law enforcement agencies of bribing a senior Chinese energy industry official in connection with the sale of power transformer equipment to China. A Mitsui employee has also been indicted in connection with the deal, which involved an official in the the former Electric Power Ministry, now the State Power Co, in 1996 and 97. Mitsui has been awarded a 3 billion yen contract to supply transformer equipment for a major thermal power station in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, but it is not known whether, or suggested that, the alleged bribery was linked to the Ningbo contract.